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(Washington DC) As governments, industry and public interest groups from across the globe prepare to meet next week to discuss endocrine-disrupting chemicals and other international chemical safety issues, the Endocrine Society and IPEN released a new guide documenting the threat endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) pose to human health.

“There is good reason to suspect that increasing chemical production and use is related to the growing incidence of endocrine-associated disorders over the past 20 years, including male reproductive problems, early female puberty, cancers, and neurobehavioral disorders,” said Endocrine Society member Andrea C. Gore, PhD, the guide’s lead author. “Importantly, there is growing evidence that fetuses and children have a particular vulnerability to these chemicals. Introduction to Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals was written to help policymakers and others better understand how these chemicals work and to assist them in making informed policy decisions.”

EDCs and other chemicals will be one topic of discussion when policymakers and other stakeholders meet in Geneva, Switzerland Dec. 15-17 to discuss next steps on the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM), a global chemical safety policy framework. More than 100 countries are participating in the process organized mainly by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) with contributions from the World Health Organization (WHO).

“In Geneva next week, the international community will decide how to respond to regional recommendations and growing stakeholder concerns about EDCs. Some of our goals for the meeting include new initiatives to identify potential EDCs and safer alternatives including non-chemical alternatives, more awareness-raising about the hazards of EDCs, and steps toward translating research results into control actions,” said Olga Speranskaya, PhD and IPEN co-chair. In 2012, the international community adopted a consensus resolution that identified endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) as an emerging policy issue. Scientific studies have linked EDC exposure to rising rates of male birth defects, infertility, cancer, obesity and neurobehavioral disorders. Nearly every person has been exposed to EDCs, which are found in plastics, foods, pesticides, cosmetics, electronics and building materials.

“EDCs are in the homes of every Australian. They contaminate our food, our water and our children. Tests on the blood and breastmilk of Australian have shown nearly all of us have them in our bodies, many at levels well above our European counterparts. Some common ones like bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates even used even in children’s products and our personal care products. Its time this stopped and our government do what they are supposed to do protect their population from the damaging effects of these toxic chemicals.” Said Dr Mariann Lloyd-Smith, Senior Advisor to National Toxics Network.

Over the past year, more than 140 governments from Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean recognized the special vulnerability of children during critical periods of development and declared the need for more awareness, information and monitoring of EDCs including in children’s products, pesticides, electronics, building materials and textiles. Governments also called for a list of potential EDCs and their associated health effects along with safer substitutes including non-chemical alternatives.

SAICM was adopted in 2006 by the international community to foster the sound management of chemicals with a goal of ensuring that, by the year 2020, chemicals are produced and used in ways that minimize significant adverse impacts on the environment and on human health

Founded in 1916, the Endocrine Society is the world’s oldest, largest and most active organization devoted to research on hormones and the clinical practice of endocrinology. Today, the Endocrine Society’s membership consists of over 18,000 scientists, physicians, educators, nurses and students in more than 122 countries. Society members represent all basic, applied and clinical interests in endocrinology. The Endocrine Society is based in Washington, DC. To learn more about the Society and the field of endocrinology, visit our site at www.endocrine.org. Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/EndoMedia.

IPEN is a leading global organization working to establish and implement safe chemicals policies and practices to protect human health and the environment whose mission is a toxics-free future for all. IPEN helps build the capacity of its member organizations to implement on-the-ground activities, learn from each other’s work, and work at the international level to set priorities and achieve new policies. To learn more about IPEN visit our site at www.ipen.org